Brief Approaches to Alcohol Screening: Practical Alternatives for Primary Care

Alcohol Screening and Risk of Postoperative Complications in Male VA Patients Undergoing Major Non-cardiac Surgery

“…Validated single-item alcohol screening questions that ask about heavy episodic drinking are increasingly recommended for alcohol screening. [24][25][26] This study suggests that these screens are not effective for identifying patients at risk for alcohol-related surgical complications. 24 This study has several limitations.…”

“…Drinking over 2 drinks daily is commonly used to assess alcohol misuse preoperatively, 8 whereas single-item screening questions about episodic "binge" drinking, including AUDIT-C question #3, have been validated as brief alcohol screening tests. 17,[24][25][26][27] To evaluate whether either of these brief alcohol screening approaches was associated with the risk of postoperative complications, two additional alcohol screening measures were derived from the AUDIT-C: 1) drinking over 2 drinks most days (≥ 4 days/week) on questions #1-2; and 2) the frequency of drinking 6 or more drinks on an occasion on question #3 (Box 1). Outcome Measure -Postoperative Complication(s).…”

Increased Documented Brief Alcohol Interventions With a Performance Measure and Electronic Decision Support

“…The AUDIT-C is a 3-item alcohol screening questionnaire validated in veteran and nonveteran primary care patients (Table 1) and used for annual screening in the VA since 2006. 25 Medical record reviewers recorded the screening date and AUDIT-C score.…”

Homeless Women and Hazardous Drinking: Screening Results in a Primary Health Care Setting

“…1 A number of studies have advocated primary care clinicians ask about alcohol consumption because they can identify and intervene with patients who typically do not self-identify or perceive a need for treatment. 1,2 This may be particularly true for women drinkers, who may be less likely to be identified by primary care clinicians, yet are higher users of primary health care.…”